


Here when you need me

by RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28990602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR/pseuds/RiTheBiGuy_RileyTMR
Summary: Alternate ending to season 3 ep 3. What would happen if Claire went back to the hospital that night that her mom died.
Relationships: Claire Browne/Neil Melendez
Comments: 31
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

She wasn't sure where she was going, she just got in her car and drove, she was trying to get the image of her dead mother out of her head but no matter what she did she couldn't stop thinking about her. She wasn't sad or angry, if she was completely honest she didn't feel anything. She'd already spoken to the police who'd confirmed what she already knew, her mom was drunk when she ran her car into a pole, that was what was playing on her mind the most, the champagne bottle that was sitting in her cupboard was open on the floor of her car and she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at that.

After driving around for an hour she found herself parked outside of the hospital. She didn't know why she decided to go there, but that was where she was. She stepped out of her car, headed inside and made her way to the residents lounge, sitting down at the large table she grabbed a book and began reading a random medical journal. She couldn't focus on the words on the page as images of her mothers damaged car raced through her mind, in fact she couldn't focus on anything so she was shocked when somebody spoke to her.

"Everything alright?" Melendez asked, startling her.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," she said, unconvincingly.

"Really? Because you just had your first solo surgery and instead of celebrating you're here reading a book on," he tilted his head slightly to read the cover of the book, "irritable bowel syndrome?"

"Maybe I find IBS interesting," Claire retorted.

"You also look like you've just seen a ghost," he added.

"Well you're not far off," she said quietly but he still heard.

"What's happened?" He asked, sitting down in the chair next to her. She sat there quietly for a few minutes and Neil was about to give up when she spoke.

"I was saving a bottle of champagne, to celebrate my first lead surgery, which was a stupid thing to do when you have a recovering alcoholic in your house," she said before failing silent again.

"I'm guessing she drank it?" Neil asked, Claire nodded slightly.

"She was drinking it when she drove her car into a pole."

"Oh my God, is she alright? I didn't hear about her coming into the ER," Claire's silence after he said this answered his question, "I'm so sorry Claire, if you need any time off then let me know," he put a hand on her shoulder but she just leaned away from him.

"I'm fine," she said, she stood up and walked to the window.

"You don't seem fine," Neil replied, turning his chair to face her, "it's okay to not be okay Claire, it's okay to feel upset, she's your mother."

"But I don't feel upset," Claire suddenly shouted, turning to face the older man, "I don't feel anything, she's dead and I'm not even sad about it, why am I not even sad?" She whispered this last part. Neil stood up and walked over to her, he stood there for a moment before speaking.

"Not everyone feels the same after a traumatic event and you're still in shock, I'm sure that eventually the reality of what happened will hit you and when that does I want you to know that I'll be here for you," he put a hand on her shoulder, she didn't move away this time, instead she shocked him by throwing her arms around him, he stood there stunned for a moment before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. He wasn't sure when she started crying but he could tell she was by the wet patches that were now on the front of his shirt and the subtle shaking hi could feel coming from her small body. 

He held her as long as she needed, only letting go when she pulled back, he was aware that if anyone had seen them the rumours would start but he didn't care, she needed him right then and he was going to be there for her. 

"Can we not speak about this to anyone?" Claire asked, "I don't want to deal with people's sympathy right now." 

"Of course," Neil replied, "and if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me," Claire smiled at the older man.

"Thank you," she said, before walking out of the door.

"I mean it," Neil called after her, she turned and smiled slightly at him before leaving.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days were hard on Claire, not that she would tell anyone that, the other residents had noticed something was off with her but none of them knew why, she was bitchy and snapped at people very quickly. Neil was unnerved by this whenever he noticed, he knew she was hurting but she didn’t say anything to him about it and he didn’t want to push her, so she spent her days walking around the hospital biting off people’s heads.

“Somethings up with Dr Browne,” Audrey walked in to Neil’s office, closely followed by Marcus. 

“Come in,” Neil muttered, looking up at them.

“Do you know what‘s happened?” Marcus asked, “she snapped at me in the OR this morning.”

“And I had a patient complain about her attitude,” Audrey added.

“She’s just going through something at the moment,” Neil responded.

“So you do know?” Audrey asked.

“Yes, but I promised her I wouldn’t say anything to anyone, she didn’t even want to tell me but eventually she did,” he replied.

“Well, since she won’t tell us what’s wrong but she’s told you, you need to talk to her, she can’t keep going on the way she is, she’s going to ruin her career if she keeps on the way,” Audrey said to him.

“She just needs space,” he said to them.

“Neil what’s happened?” Audrey asked. He looked to the two doctors in front of him before sighing and turning away.

“You’re putting me in a very awkward position here,” he said, he sighed again before facing his coworkers, “her mother died,” the other two were shocked when he said this, “the day she had her solo surgery, I was finishing up some paperwork late that night when she showed up here, I could tell something was wrong and after a bit of coaxing she finally told me what.”

“That’s awful,” Audrey said.

“Why is she still here?” Marcus asked, “she should be taking some time off.”

“We all know that she wouldn’t do that, she had a very complicated relationship with her mother and I don’t think she knows how to feel right now,” Neil said.

“Well something needs to be done about it,” Audrey said.

“I’ll talk to her,” Neil sighed, “but you can’t mention to her that I told you anything, I’m able to mentor these doctors because they trust me, I can’t break that trust.”

“We understand,” Marcus said and Audrey nodded.

“Just get it sorted before I have to,” she said. The two doctors left and he watched as the residents walked into their lounge, Shaun talking to the others about something that he was obviously very interested in, Alex and Morgan were less interested as they had their own conversation behind him. Claire was walking further behind them, she looked okay but he could see the slight sadness in her face.

“Dr Browne,” Neil called into the lounge as the residents got up to leave, “could I speak to you before you go,” the other residents looked at each other, they could all tell what this was going to be about, Claire walked over to the door to his office that he was holding open for her and the other residents left. Claire sat down on the couch in his office when he indicated for her to, Neil perched on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms in front of him, “how’re you holding up?” He asked.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly.

“You and I both know that’s not true,” Neil replied, “otherwise I wouldn’t have called you in here and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“Honestly Dr Melendez, I’m fine,” she insisted.

“I’ve been giving you space,” he said, “but you haven’t been yourself, and I’m not the only one who’s noticed, everyone’s been walking on eggshells around you because they’re worried that you’ll bite their heads off,” Claire scoffed at this but didn’t say anything, “You’re hurting Claire, I get that,” Neil said, he stopped leaning on his desk and instead went and sat next to the younger doctor, “you don’t have to hurt alone, you need to talk to someone, I know your boss isn’t always the person you want to talk to but I’m here if you need to talk, and if not me then a friend or even a therapist.”

“I don’t need a therapist,” she snapped. Neil raised his eyebrow at her, “okay, fine, I’ve been struggling since my mom died, are you happy now?”

“Well that’s a start,” he sat back on the couch and looked at her, “have you started arranging her funeral yet?” Claire looked uncomfortable for a minute before she spoke.

“She was cremated yesterday,” she replied.

“What have you done with her ashes?” 

“Nothing yet, they’re in the trunk of my car,” she responded.

“What are you planning on doing?” Neil asked.

“Well, my mom put an idea in her will, but it’s ridiculous,” she laughed slightly.

“Obviously not that ridiculous if she put it in her will,” Neil replied.

“She wanted her ashes scattered in with the sea lions at the local aquarium,” Claire mumbled.

“Well, I’m off on Saturday and from what I can remember, so are you,” Neil said, “so if you’d like I can go with you to the aquarium and you can spread her ashes.”

“Why would you do that?” Claire asked looking back at him slightly.

“Because,” Neil started leaning forward so that they were face to face, “you need someone, even if you don’t want to admit it, you’re starting on a self destructive path and I’m not just going to watch you do that to yourself. You are an incredible surgeon, you can’t ruin what you have going on here because you don’t want to ask for help,” Claire looked down at her hands as a tear fell down her face. 

“I don’t know what to do,” she sobbed, “she was a terrible mother, she was absent for most of my childhood, she made my life hell, but I still loved her and in those last few days she was trying to get better and she didn’t, because I stupidly left a bottle of champagne in my apartment.”

“Her death is not your fault,” Neil said softly, “you didn’t know that she’d do that, she was sober and she was trying and you trusted that she’d stay that way,” he stopped and she looked up at her with sad eyes, “this isn’t your fault Claire,” she looked into his eyes, she didn’t know what she’d see there but she wasn’t expecting to see so much concern in them. She smiled slightly at him before standing up.

“Thank you,” she said quietly to him and he smiled.

“Anytime,” he replied and she left the room.

Saturday quickly came around, and Claire waited patiently for the evening and Neil to arrive. As if on cue she heard a knock on her door, she got up and answered it, Neil stood on the other side and smiled slightly at her.

“You ready?” he asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” she replied. She grabbed her mother’s ashes, put them in a bag and left with him. The drive to the aquarium was quiet, Claire spent most of the time looking out of the window thinking about some of the good memories she actually had with her mother. Her thoughts were cut short when they pulled into the parking lot. She got out of Neil’s car and he followed her, not close enough to crowd her, but close enough to let her know that he was there for her. They went into the building and headed straight for the sea lions. They stood there, looking down at the water, Claire pulled the small tub out of her bag and Neil looked around to make sure nobody was nearby. Claire tipped the container upside down and emptied the contents into the water below. She stood there for a minute before turning around and walking past Neil, she headed towards the exit and he followed her. They got into his car and drove out of the parking lot. 

“You okay?” Neil asked his resident.

“Yeah,” Claire said quietly, looking out of the window.

“You don’t seem it,” he replied.

“Please, not today,” Claire pleaded, “I just want to go home today and get some sleep,” Neil nodded in understanding, deciding to drop it. He pulled up outside of her house and she thanked him as she got out the car.

“Call me if you need anything,” he said to her, Claire smiled and nodded before heading into her apartment.

She was there for half an hour before deciding to head to a nearby bar. She sat there and ordered a drink, one drink led to two, then three and eventually she started getting tipsy. This was when a man came over to her.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” she smiled back.

“I noticed you sitting here alone and wondered if I could get you a drink?” He asked. Claire giggled slightly.

“Ok,” she said, fiddling with her hair, the man called the bartender over and ordered her another drink.

They spent most of the night drinking and talking before leaving the bar to find a nearby alleyway. They started making out before the man started to touch and kiss her body as she stood there, she couldn’t help but think about her mother and how she felt like she was becoming like her, but it didn’t stop her because in the moment she didn’t care.


	3. Chapter 3

“You’re late Dr Browne,“ Neil said as Claire walked through the door to the residents lounge. He was sat at the table writing on a notepad.

“I’m sorry, I-“ Claire started before Neil cut her off.

“You were at a dentist appointment if anyone asks, at least that’s What I told Morgan when she had to cover for you, but don’t worry she’s made a list of her jobs that she’s going to get you to do,” he said looking up at her. He put his pen down and crossed his arms in front of his chest, “I don’t care where you were this morning, I was hoping it was a therapists but apparently not considering a nurse saw you sneaking in in a rather, what was the word she used, ‘scandalous’ dress,” Claire looked down at her hands after realising she had been caught, “this isn’t the first time this week, you need to get help Claire, you can’t just keep sleeping your way through your grief.”

“I don’t think what I do in my spare time is any of your business Dr Melendez,” Claire said, more rudely than she intended.

“It is when it starts affecting your work Dr Brown,” Neil retorted. His face softened a little when he saw the pain in her eyes, “you can’t live in denial forever Claire,” Claire nodded slightly at this, “now you should get to work,” Neil said, Claire turned and left the room and Neil hopped that she would take his advice.

Neil thought that was the end of it, Claire hadn’t been late for the next few weeks and he’d hoped that she’d gotten help. He was wrong. The day had started off well, a man had come into the ER after a car crash, Claire had made a good call on medical treatment after realising the guy could have been on MDMA. He was surprised when the mans wife walked through to the nurses station and slapped Claire, as far as he was aware Claire hadn’t done anything to offend the patient or his wife so when he saw the woman attack his resident and then watched his resident flee to the stairwell he quickly finished with his patient and rushed to the nurses station where he spoke to Alex.

“What the hell was that about?” He asked.

“I shouldn’t really say,” Alex said, Neil gave him a stern look and he cracked, “Claire slept with our patient, he was leaving her apartment when he got in a crash,” Neil ran a hand down his face and sighed, ‘now what has she gotten herself into’ he thought to himself, “obviously Claire didn’t know he was married.”

“Yeah I guessed that,” Neil replied, he couldn’t imagine Claire purposefully sleeping with a married man.

“Anyway his wife confronted him, he admitted everything and boom! Claire got slapped in the face,” Alex said.

“Loving the compassion Dr Park,” Neil said to him, “I’ll go check if she’s alright,” Neil headed in the direction that Claire went, he soon found her sitting in a stairwell, he could hear her sobbing and she immediately stopped and started wiping her eyes when she heard someone coming. He sat down on one of the steps above her and put a hand on her shoulder and soon she was crying again. He didn’t say anything, just stayed there letting her know that he was there. He felt sorry for her, he knew she was struggling and he wished he could do more to help her but she was stubborn, it was one of the things that he liked about her. 

“I’m sorry about this,” she said in between sobs.

“It’s okay, you made a mistake, these things happens,” he replied.

“But you have your own problems to deal with, you don’t need to be worrying about you,” Claire said, she was right, he did have his own problems after his and Audrey’s relationship fell apart, but she needed him right now.

“You need someone to worry about you Claire, you don’t seem to be worrying about yourself,” he said.

“I know,” she sighed. They sat in silence for a little while longer, until Claire was ready to get up again and they both left to get back to their jobs.

The next morning Neil walked into the gym that he’d been going to for a few years, he was surprised to see a familiar face there. 

“Morning! Never seen you here before,” he smiled to Claire.

“Yeah I just joined,” she replied, “I’m not really a gym person but I thought I’d try something new.”

“It’s a great way to clear your head,” he said.

“Yeah, um about last night, in the stairwell,” she stood up as she spoke to him, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” he replied, “I know the boss isn’t always the person you wanna talk to but if you ever do.”

“Thanks again, but I’m fine, really,” she answered quickly. He was glad to see her there, it meant she had listened to him and decided to try doing something that would help herself and it made him proud to see. They were soon distracted by one of the other gym members trying to lift an impossible amount of weight before he collapsed and they were suddenly Drs Melendez and Browne again.


	4. Chapter 4

When they were halfway through looking after their patient from the gym, Neil walked into the residents lounge to see Claire fishing her phone out of her glass of water.

“What happened there?” He asked.

“It wouldn’t stop going off so I put it in my water,” she said simply.

“Seems a bit dramatic,” he replied.

“Funny that’s what Dr Park said.”

“I heard that the other residents were giving you some shit about what happened yesterday,” he told her, “do I need to speak to any of them?”

“No it’s fine, I can handle them,” she replied.

“Looks like it,” Neil said, holding up her soaking wet phone.

“That wasn’t because of them,” she said, grabbing the phone off of him, “that’s because some of the guys I hooked up with kept messaging me no matter how many numbers I blocked.”

“Well at least you’re blocking the numbers now instead of calling them back,” she chuckled slightly when he said this, he stood up and went to walk out of the door, “oh I’ve got something for you before I go,” Claire looked at him with an eyebrow raised as he placed a piece of paper on the table, she looked at it and saw a phone number, “it’s for a therapist that I’d heard about, apparently she’s really good, just something for you to think about when you’ve got a new phone,” he walked out of the room, leaving her to fiddle with the piece of paper between her fingers.

The doctors were all invited out to the bar after they had managed to successfully help their patient. The patients doctor insisted that they came after offering to get them all NFL tickets whenever they wanted. The bar was full with their patients manager, coach and other players, all celebrating their friend. Neil was sat at a table away from the others and watched as Alex and Morgan mingled with their company, he was considering leaving when Claire walked through the door, she smiled when she saw him and headed over to where he was sat.

“Not wanting to join in the party?” She asked him as she sat down.

“Something about these people unnerve me,” he admitted, “they were more worried that our patient would be able to play again instead of wanting to keep him alive.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t even want to play anymore,” she sighed, “I feel bad for him, he feels he has no other option and he’s miserable.”

“I can’t imagine what that would feel like, I was always lucky to be able to grow up in a family that was able to afford an education,” Neil said, “I always wanted to be a doctor and didn’t really have any set backs or even consider having to do anything else.”

“I can imagine it,” Claire said and Neil looked at her sadly, “I would take whatever job I could get when I was old enough, some of them were horrible and I absolutely hated them, but we needed the money, I managed to make enough to get me through medical school so I wasn’t stuck in a job I hated for years, I just wish this guy could‘be done the same.”

“It is a shame,” Neil replied, taking a swig of his beer. Claire nodded in agreement.

“I spoke to that therapist that you recommended, that’s why I was late to this,” Claire said quietly to him, he looked shocked that she suddenly told him but quickly regained his composure.

“Good” he said, “hope you find it helpful”

“It was nice to be able to talk to someone who doesn’t know me, someone with a fresh look on my life, but she said that she thinks I might have ptsd and gave me a pamphlet to look at, sounds a bit excessive though,” Claire opened up to him.

“You’ve definitely dealt with some childhood trauma,” Neil responded.

“You think she’s right?” Claire asked.

“I think doctors make the worst patients,” he replied, “the best patients are the ones that ask a lot of questions and keep an open mind,” Claire nodded at this before having a sip of her drink. She looked over to where Morgan was flirting with a couple of football players and chuckled, “at least some people are having a good time,” Neil looked to where Claire was looking and laughed before pointing to Alex.

“At least she’s not trying to get everyone’s autograph like Park’s doing,” Claire looked over at him and smiled.

“He’s probably getting them to send home to Kellan,” she said, “that’s kind of sweet.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Neil joked, “he’s been following the players around like a lost puppy all night,” Claire laughed at this.

“I don’t get the appeal of sports, these guys all get paid millions for throwing a ball around,” she admitted.

“Yeah, but sadly that’s what people pay to see,” Neil replied.

“It’s dumb,” she grumbled and he looked at her and smiled, “what?” She asked as she noticed him looking at her.

“Nothing,” he chuckled, before looking away, “it’s amazing how much you care for your patients,” he looked down at his hands that were around his glass, “the others are all brilliant surgeons, they’re competitive, which is good, but they lose sight of how important it is to get to know your patients. You just naturally care, it’s incredible,” Claire blushes as he said this.

“Thank you,” she said.

“I mean it,” he said looking at her intensely, “you’re a gifted surgeon and I’m glad to see that you’re getting back to your old self again,” Claire smiled at him and she could feel butterflies in her stomach as he said this.

They spent the rest of the evening talking about surgery’s that they have done or want to do and eventually they noticed that everyone else had left.

“We should probably leave,” Neil said as he stood up, “I think the staff are wanting to shut soon,” Claire turned slightly and saw a couple of bar tenders looking at them.

“Noted,” she grinned, standing up, they walked outside feeling the slight chill in the air.

“So have you got an Uber coming to pick you up?” He asked her.

“No, I only live a block away so I was going to walk,” she said.

“I’ll walk with you,” he said.

“You don’t have to do that,” she replied.

“I know, but it’s late and I’d rather know that you got home safely,” he admitted, Claire smiled and fiddled with her hair. 

“Okay,” she said and they walked in the direction of her house. They made small talk until they got outside of her apartment, “well this is my stop,” she said, she got her keys out of her bag and started to play with them, “thank you for walking me home,” she said.

“It was no trouble,” he replied, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Claire turned and walked up to her door, Neil watched before turning and heading back to his car.

The next few days bought in an interesting patient for Neil, Claire and Alex, they had a young man, barely an adult, come into the ER with an obstruction in his bowels, an obstruction which turned out to be drugs. Claire has felt bad for this kid, he grew up in poverty and didn’t have many options besides becoming a drug mule. They managed to find a way to remove the drugs without police being notified right away and Claire was pleased that she managed to change this poor guys life. That was until she got the phone call. She headed to the hospital where she was met by Neil and Alex. They explained the situation with the drugs and her heart sank, she headed outside where she stood, the words of her mother flashing through her mind, ‘you’re a failure,’ ‘you always screw up,’ ‘no one will ever truly love you,’ her thoughts were interrupted when Neil walked up to her.

“My mother always said that I’d end up like her, putting all my faith in people, Getting taken advantage of,” she paused, “that no one would ever truly love me, except her.”

“There are worse qualities in this world then trying to see the best in people, if you’re a good person every now and then you’re going to feel like an idiot, today you were wrong and I am still grateful that I work with you,” he looked over to her and she looked back at him.

“Thank you,” she replied, they stood there for a few minutes, relishing in each other’s company before Neil put a hand on her shoulder, he smiled at her and squeezed before heading in the direction of his car, her eyes followed him and despite what had just happened that day, she felt a hint of happiness in her.


	5. Chapter 5

“You mentioned 7cm’s was our limit to doing this laparoscopically, what if we pushed it to 7.2?” Claire asked Neil about their latest patient, “it would speed up recovery.”

“By a few days,” Neil answered.

“Forget I brought it up, Ryan wanting to take his girlfriend to prom should not factor into our surgical plan,” Claire chuckled nervously.

“Is he nuts about her?” Neil asked. Claire sighed.

“Crazy head over heels in love, they both are,” she smiled.

“Idiots,” Neil said looking at the boy getting scanned in the other room.

“I wouldn’t mind being an idiot like that again,” Claire said quietly, Neil looked at and smiled, “though I’m not sure I ever felt that way, totally happy.”

“So therapy’s going well,” Neil said and Claire laughed slightly. They continued to discuss the scan before realising that the boys tumour was gone.

They headed into Ryan’s room to let them know the good news, Claire smiled at the young couple who were celebrating until Angie started to have a seizure. They rushed over to treat her and began to call out instructions to the nurses around them.

“Studies have shown that positive attitudes lead to positive outcomes,” Claire said to Neil as they walked through the hospital with Alex.

“You worried about her attitude?” Neil asked.

“She’s worried about young love,” Alex cut in.

“I’m worried about what Angie is facing after surgery, physical therapy, cognitive therapy, one challenge after another and what she wants is so simple,” Claire said. Neil pushes the button to the elevator they had come up to and turned around to talk to the younger surgeon.

“You want to make a sad kid happy?”

“I guess I do, which isn’t my job and I need to stop getting sucked into people’s personal issues,” Claire replied.

“Is there a way to do that without antagonising the mother?” He asked, Claire was quiet for a second before replying.

“Maybe,” she answered.

“Then make her happy,” Neil said as they all walked into the elevator.

Neil didn’t see Claire much for the rest of the day, that was until he caught her putting up decorations in a room close to Angie’s. He stood at the door admiring the room before speaking.

“This looks amazing,” he said as she started to climb down the ladder she was standing on. Claire smiled brightly at him.

“Thank you,” she replied, “I hope you’ve got a nice suit ready for tonight,” Neil laughed at this.

“Of course,” he replied, he watched as she moved the ladder to a different place and started to climb it.

“Could you pass me that?” She asked, pointing to a set of lights on a nearby table, Neil grabbed them and handed them to her.

“So Dr Browne, have you managed to find a date for the prom tonight?” He asked jokingly.

“God no,” she laughed.

“I was thinking about asking Park but I don’t think he’d look very good in a dress,” Neil said which caused Claire to burst out laughing, he laughed along with her before speaking again, “if you’re up to it,” he said nervously, “you could always go with me,” Claire looked down at him.

“Are you asking me to be your date to prom Dr Melendez?” She asked teasingly.

“Well the only other people invited to this prom besides Ryan and Angie are us, so it doesn’t leave me many options,” he said, shrugging slightly.

“Way to make a girl feel special,” she laughed, “but yes, I would love to go to the prom with you,” Neil laughed at this before holding out another decoration for her to put up. He didn’t know why but he genuinely felt nervous about that night now.

He watched as Claire And a nurse walked into Angie’s room to sort her out a dress for the prom, as the door shut he decided to head to his locker to get changed, as he was walking back through the hospital in his suit he bumped into Ryan, he was wearing a fancy tux and was holding a flower in his hand.

“Dr Melendez,” he called out to him, the surgeon smiled and walked over to the young man.

“Ryan,” he greeted him, “that is a very impressive tux,” Ryan grinned at this.

“Thank you,” he replied, Neil could feel the nervous excitement resisting from the boy and realised that he also had some of that energy around him, “would you be able to help me put this on?” Ryan asked, holding up the flower.

“Of course,” Neil replied, he pinned the flower onto the younger mans suit when he heard one of the nurses started to play music and the song perfect by Ed Sheehan came on. The two men turned to face the women walking out of the nearby room. Neil smiled when he saw Claire with a huge grin on her face and it took his breath away.

“You look amazing,” Ryan said to Angie and Neil couldn’t stop himself from think the same thing about Claire, she looked beautiful in her dress, which didn’t surprise him at all as she usually looked beautiful, not that he would admit that if anybody asked him.

“So do you,” Angie replied. Ryan stepped forwards and Neil was so lost in hi thoughts that he almost forgot to hand Ryan a mask, luckily he stopped him before he got to Angie and handed the piece of fabric to him. The two teens walked over to each other and Ryan put a corsage on her wrist before leading her to the room that was set up for their prom. Claire and Neil followed them in smiling as the their patient and her boyfriend danced to the music.

“Looks like you might be feeling a little idiotic happiness right now,” Neil commented. Claire smiled brightly.

“Hmm, maybe a touch,” she said. They watched the young couple dance when Neil moved in front of her and held his hand out to her.

“Dance with the prom king?” He asked, bowing slightly. Claire laughed slightly at this and took his hand, he led her to the dance floor a spun her around before putting his other hand on her waist, they swayed to the music, grinning stupidly at each other. They both tried to convince themselves that it was just a bit of fun to keep their patient happy but anyone watching them wouldn’t have seen that as they looked into each other’s eyes, laughing occasionally at something the other had said. They danced to a few more songs before Angie and Ryan decided they wanted to take some pictures. They took a few before turning to Claire and Neil who were standing nearby.

“You two should get in here,” Angie said, “I’d love to have a couple of memories of the doctors who made all this possible,” she gestured at the room as she said this.

“It was all Claire,” Neil replied.

“He helped to decorate as well,” she argued, “and I wouldn’t have been able to organise this if he hadn’t agreed.”

“You two are so cute,” Angie said, “I swear if you two aren’t a couple then you should be.”

“No- no, it’s nothing like that,”

“We’re just work colleagues,” they both spoke at the same time.

“Well whatever you two are, you should get into this picture,” Angie insisted. The two surgeons headed over, Angie and Ryan stood to one side holding each other, Claire and Neil stood the other side, she was stood slightly in front of him and he had his arm around her waist. Angie pressed the button on her phone and they waited for the timer to go off, “now one of just you two,” she said excitedly, they both opened their mouths to argue but she cut them off, “this is now your guys’ prom too, you need photos,” Claire and Neil agreed, it was for the sake of making their cancer patient happy if anyone asked, and stood in front of the camera. Angie took a few photos of them and showed them both, “aww, that ones cute,” the young girl said to them as she showed them a picture of the two of them mid laughter, the picture before that was the two of them making silly faces at Angie’s request and this photo captured them laughing at how ridiculous they both looked, “what’s your email? I’ll send you these,” Angie asked, Claire noticed Angie’s mother was standing by the nurses station so she left Neil to give the teenager his email. He looked up when he saw Claire leave and noticed their patients mother talking to her, he considered going over as well but Claire seemed to have it under control. The two teenagers went back to taking photos as Claire walked back over to him.

“Everything okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, she just wanted to drop off one of Angie’s teddy bears, I left it on her bed for her,” Claire replied.

“She wasn’t mad?”

“No, I think she saw how happy Angie was, she just said to not let her stay up too late,” Claire said. Neil smiled at this.

“I’m glad, this was an amazing this you did today Claire,” he said, Claire smiled shyly at this.

“It was nothing,” she insisted.

“It wasn’t nothing, you went above and beyond for this patient and you’ve given these two teenagers a memory that they’ll never forget,” he argued, “and I’m proud of you,” Claire looked surprised when he said this, he knew that he mother would always put her down and since she had told him that he tried to make sure that he complimented her more, the look on her face every time he did always made him happier as well.

“Thank you, Dr Melendez,” she said to him and he smiled back before they turned to look at the two teenagers who were enjoying their prom. 

Claire was devastated after Angie died, she couldn’t stand to watch as the young girls mom and boyfriend took in the news of her death and she went outside to get some air. 

“Claire, wait up,” Neil called out as she headed for the door, “you okay?”

“Fine, I’m just tired,” she replied.

“You did an amazing thing for Angie, you gave her mother a memory she will have forever,” he said to her. 

“Well it won’t make up for the daughter she lost,” she retorted.

“You’re angry,” he noted.

“I’m not,” she insisted, “I am sad.”

“What are you angry at?” He continued.

“I’m not,” she said again.

“Are you angry at me and Glassman because we couldn’t save her?”

“No!”

“At Angie?” “No, you can’t be mad at someone for dying!” she snapped.

  
“That’s not true,” Neil said calmly, “you know that.”

“She was sick, and was trying to get better,” Claire said with tears in her eyes.

“And she failed and left you alone, after you spent a lifetime trying to take care of her, you have every reason to be mad at your mother,” he assured her.

“I hate feeling this way, my whole life I’ve been angry at her and now it will never change, I don’t know how to stop.”

“Therapy will help, time will help, there is one other thing that’s worked for me,” Neil said before leading to his car.

“Running?” Claire asked as they got to the park.

“Yep,” Neil replied, “it’ll help clear your mind,” he started to jog a little before turning back and looking at her, “you coming?” He asked. She chuckled before catching up with him.

“This does feel a bit better,” she said after a while.

“See I told you,” he replied, “if you want we can go running a couple times a week, I normally go before work, sometimes after if it’s been a rough day, up to you though.” 

“That sounds nice,” Claire replied.

“Good,” Neil said, “give you some more practice so you can keep up with me, unless that’s the best you got,” he ran off ahead of her and she sped up to catch up with him.


	6. Chapter 6

“So, I hear Dr Reznick’s mother showed up this morning,” Neil said to Claire as they queued up to grab lunch.

“Yeah, she dropped to the floor and had a seizure in front of us,” Claire replied.

“That doesn’t sound good,” he said, “how’s Morgan handling it?”

“As far as I can tell her relationship with her mother isn’t the best, but she’s still struggling, even if she won’t admit it,” Claire said.

“Reminds me of someone I know,” Neil responded and Claire gave him a look, “just saying,” he said defensively and Claire rolled her eyes.

“I’m a lot better now,” she said.

“I know,” Neil replied, “and I’m glad,” Claire smiled at him before picking up a plate of food, “so what’s Shaun’s new thing about parades?” He asked and Claire burst out laughing, “what?”

“I’m sorry,” she laughed, before composing herself, “Morgan told him that he shouldn’t keep talking about sex at work so that’s his new term for an orgasm.”

“I see,” Neil mumbled, “now it makes more sense when he asked me if I know how to throw a parade.”

“ I wish I could’ve been there to witness that,” she chuckled, “how did you answer him?”

“I told him I’d never thrown a parade before,” he paused after he said this, realising what that implied to Shaun when he asked, “Oh God,” Claire started laughing harder at this, causing a few people around them to stare, “haha very funny,” Neil said before he started laughing as well. They got to a table and sat down, Claire wiping the tears that were now coming down her face.

“You-“ she started before laughing again, “you-“ she tried again.

“Essentially told Shaun that I’ve never gotten a woman off before, yeah, I realise that now thanks,” he chuckled, blushing slightly, causing Claire to laugh even more.

“Everything alright over here?” Alex asked walking up to their table, Shaun not far behind him. Claire managed to control her laughter as Alex and Shaun stared at her.

“Shaun,” she said still chuckling slightly, “if you’re going to ask people about parades at least let them know what that means.”

“Why, people seem to have understood so far,” Shaun argued, sitting down at the table. Alex sat down next to him.

“Judging by the look on Dr Melendez’s face he didn’t,” Alex said.

“But he’d told me that he’d never thrown a parade before, which is okay Dr Melendez I still haven’t worked it out either,” Shaun said causing Claire to laugh again and Alex to put his head in his hands.

“No Shaun,” Neil started, “that wasn’t what I thought you meant, I thought you just had a thing about actual parades.”

“Why would I want to know about actual parades?” Shaun asked innocently. Neil looked over at Claire, a helpless look in his eyes. She Tried to control her laughter and turned to Shaun.

“Look Shaun, maybe it would be best if you just kept your parade talks between the residents, we’re happy to offer you advice but HR would not like it if they found out you were asking attendings about their sex life,” she said to him, “I’m sure poor Dr Melendez didn’t really want the residents all knowing about his problems.”

“Okay I’m going,” Neil stood up after Claire’s teasing.

“I’m just joking,” she laughed and Neil chuckled slightly.

“I know, but I have a patient I need to get back to,” he said before walking away.

“Shouldn’t he stay to hear the advice you guys are going to give me?” Shaun asked, “if might help him as well.”

“No Shaun that’s not-“ Claire started before deciding to just give up as Alex started giggling like a child next to her.

They all spent the rest of the day trying to help Morgan’s mom when she was bought into the ER after cutting off her finger. Soon after the surgery was done Neil was sat in his office, when Claire walked in.

“Morgan’s decided to try the approach that Shaun suggested,“ she said.

“That’s good,” he replied, “how’s Morgan?” He asked. Claire sighed and sat done in one of the chairs across from him.

“I don’t know, she’s complicated, she just wants to help her mom but she’s making that hard for her,” Claire sat back in the chair, “I get what that’s like.”

“She’s lucky you have you as a friend,” Neil said to her.

“I don’t think she thinks of me as a friend,” Claire laughed.

“She may not admit it but she does,” he insisted.

“Yeah, maybe,” Claire responded thinking sadly about how much the blondes situation reminded her of her mother’s death, Neil noticed this and tried to cheer her up.

“So did you manage to clear up the whole parade thing with Shaun earlier?” He asked and she smirked at him.

“I tried to explain but I don’t think he quite understood,” she said and he meant his head on the table, causing her to chuckle, “look on the bright side,” she said. He expected her to say something after this but she shook her head “I’m sorry, I can’t think of a bright side,” she laughed.

“It’s fine, as long as he doesn’t go around telling everyone,” he said.

“I’ve told him to just keep everything between us residents,” she assured him, before standing up and heading towards the door, “I was thinking about going on a run tomorrow night, would you like to join me?”

“Sure,” he said, smiling at her, she smiled back before heading out the door.

“Do you think a deadline like he has burns you down to who you really are, or does it just make you nuts and desperate?” Claire asked Neil as they stretched, referring to the patient he had that day.

“Why can’t it be both?” He asked. She hummed.

“Okay, um, a little house in the middle of nowhere, two chickens, one dog, nobody who expects anything from me, nobody who is even verbal.” Neil chuckled at this, “I’m tired of trying to fix myself, and I’m tired of being known as a soft touch,” Neil laughed when she said this.

“I’m not buying it,” he walked past her, turning to face her as he went by, “there’s no way you would get a dog if you only had six months to live, it wouldn’t be fair,” they both started jogging as she spoke.

“Okay, then I would foster a series of rescue dogs,” she replied.

“You said you’re tired of being a soft touch and yet your fantasy involves helping,” he said looking at her and smiling before looking ahead, we are who we are,” they continued jogging for a bit further before she asked him a question.

“So what would you do if you only had six months then?” He thought for a minute before answering.

“Honestly, I’d want to make memories with the people I care about,” he answered, “I’d take Gabi out to the places that she loves, I’d probably arrange some guys nights out with Marcus and Aaron, I’d go for more drinks with Audrey, I may even take all you residents to something that you’d all like to do” he slowed down a bit before he said the next thing, “I’d hang out with you more,” Claire blushed slightly at this but tried not to let it show.

“You know you don’t have to be dying for that to happen,” she said to him, “we can hang out more if you want.”

“I’d like that,” he replied, “how about bowling?”

“Sounds good to me,” she answered and they smiled at each other, “what’s that over there?” She asked him, looking over his shoulder. He turned to look and she took off running.

“That was childish!” He called after her before running to catch up.

“You are a terrible bowler,” Neil laughed as Claire got another gutter ball.

“I’m just going easy on you,” Claire replied.

“That’s past the point of going easy,” he joked as she sat down next to him.

“Alright, fine, I’m not very good at bowling,” she admitted. Neil chuckled before standing up.

“I could show you how to actually hit a pin,” he said to her.

“Ha ha, very funny, I can hit a pin, just not many of them,” she retorted.

“Come here,” he said and she stood up and walked over to their lane, “I’m already winning by a significant amount so it won’t matter if you mess up one of my turns,” he teased. She took the ball off of him and got ready to throw, “you’re standing wrong,” he said to her she turned back and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, “turn slightly more this way,” he grabbed her shoulders and turned her body slightly, “now when you throw it you’ll have a good amount of power behind it,” his hands lingered slightly longer than was probably necessary but if it bothered Claire she didn’t show it. He stepped back and let her throw the ball, she knocked more pins down than she had all night, “well done,” he congratulated her, “now you’ve just got to knock the rest down,” she picked up another ball and made her next throw, knocking down the rest of the pins. 

“Yes!” She cheered.

“I feel like I shouldn’t have shown you how to actually bowl, you might actually be good competition now,” he said.

“Just you wait, I’m going to kick your ass now,” she said, stepping closer to him.

“Oh yeah,” he looked down at her, “is that a challenge because we can play another game when this ones done.” 

“You’re on,” she retorted, they were standing very close to each other by this point and she could feel the tension between them, it took all her might not to reach up and kiss him and the way his tongue came out of his mouth and quickly licked his lips she was sure he felt the same. She knew they had to break the moment before either of them acted on this desire, it could ruin their jobs if they did, so she leant down and picked up a ball, holding it between them, “well I took your go so I think it’s only fair that you take one of mine,” she said. Neil cleared his throat before taking the ball off of her.

“Yeah, that sounds fair to me,” he replied. Neil won their first game by a lot but their second game was a lot closer, Neil only winning by 12.

“I’m definitely going to beat you next time,” she said to him as they walked out into the parking lot.

“You keep telling yourself that,” he replied, “So does that mean there’ll be a next time?”

“Of course,” she said, “I’ve actually really enjoyed tonight.” 

“So have I,” Neil said, he wanted to tell her that he’d have enjoyed anything as long as it was with her but he didn’t want to make their friendship weird, instead he just said “I’ll see you tomorrow,” and headed towards his car, Claire watched him go, wishing that their night could have lasted longer but knowing that it was probably for the best that it didn’t.


	7. Chapter 7

“Uh oh,” Neil said as Audrey walked into his office and shut the door.

“Actually yeah, there’s something awkward we need to talk about,” she paused before continuing, “you and Claire.”

“You can open the door,” he said standing up, “there’s nothing remotely improper going on.”

“I received an anonymous favouritism complaint, we need to deal with it,” Audrey told him.

“I don’t play favourites Audrey, you know that,” he said.

“Well I’m not too sure now,” she replied to him.

“I’ve been helping her since her mother died, she’s had a rough few months and was struggling, that’s all there is to it,” he insisted.

“Neil, that isn’t all there is too it and we both know that so stop trying to kid yourself,” Audrey said.

“I’m not kidding myself about anything because there is nothing going on,” he tried again, Audrey sighed before walking towards the door.

“You have a problem Neil, and you need to sort it out,” with that she left. Neil sat back in his chair. He and Claire had been out many times in the past few weeks, from running, to bowling and even movies and takeaway at each other’s places. He knew that Audrey was right, there was something going on between the two of them, but it wasn’t what she thought, they were just good friends but he could see how the other residents might see that so he decided that he had to do something about it.

Claire watched as Neil walked away after telling her that they couldn’t hang out anymore before heading to her car. She sat down, thinking about what he’d said, she was devastated, it wasn’t like him to be like this, not only had he cancelled on them he’d also been trying extra hard to make sure he didn’t seem biased towards her. He was overcompensating and she hated it, she was determined to make him realise that he shouldn’t give up on their friendship just because the other residents didn’t like it.

Claire saw Neil sitting at the bar and sat down next to him, he sat back and looked at her.

“This is not you and it’s not right, we can be friends and have it not be weird,” she said to him.

“It’s already weird,” he replied, “I’m not gonna stay.”

“You don’t have to run away just because I’m here,” she argued.

“I’m not running, I’m being professional.”

“You’re over compensating, trying to play it safe and it’s hurting things, it got Park and I in an argument, that’s not how I want to be mentored,” she paused and he looked up at her, “it’s not who you are, at least it’s not who I thought you were,” he got up out of his chair.

“Enjoy your dinner,” he said before grabbing his coat and leaving the bar. Claire sat there, defeated, and ordered a drink, she wasn’t sure what she could do now, that was when somebody sat down next to her, she looked over and saw Neil.

“Two menu’s,” he said To the bar tender before smiling at Claire, she beamed back at him before he handed her a menu. They ordered their food and chatted as they drank their drinks, avoiding talking about the complaint that was made about them, they were shown to a nearby table when their food was ready, they began to eat, “this is really good,” Neil said as he dug into his pasta.

“It looks it,” Claire said.

“You can try some if you want,” he told her, pushing his bowl towards her, she used her fork and grabbed some pasta before putting it in her mouth.

“Mm, it is really good,” she said, “you can have some of my fries if you’d like,” she pushed her plate towards him, and he grabbed a few fries before putting them in his mouth, “I’m glad that you came back.”

“Me too,” Neil agreed, “I’m sorry, with how I was acting earlier, it wasn’t fair to you or Park.”

“It’s alright Neil,” Claire spoke, “you were put in a difficult position, just please don’t start being an ass like that again,” Neil chuckled at this.

“I’ll try not to be,” he replied, “but we have to keep this on the down low, we’ll probably have to go running somewhere further away from the hospital as well now,” Claire nodded in agreement, “do you want to go bowling on Friday night?” He asked her.

“Want to see me finally kick your ass?” She joked back.

“In your dreams,” he laughed. They finished their meals and spent the rest of their night drinking and chatting just like they had been before the complaint.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been having some trouble with the website for the past few chapters, it was moving someone my paragraphs so they were all together instead of spaced out but I think I have fixed it now so hopefully they will be right when you read this, if not please let me know in the comments.

“I can’t believe Morgan!” Claire stormed into Neil’s office.

“Good to see you too,” he said, Claire softened slightly when he said this.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “Morgan just told me that she was the one who went to Lim.”

“And that surprises you?” He asked her.

“No, but Park told me that he made the complaint, Morgan said that was just so I’d stop talking about it,” Claire said, “it just pisses me off that she’d do that.”

“So what do you want me to do about it?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she sighed and sat down on a chair in front of his desk, “this patient is stressing me out as well.”

“Why what’s wrong with him?” Neil asked.

“We don’t know, it’s weird because he’s one person during the day and someone completely different over night,” Claire said.

“That is weird,” Neil commented, “you got his files with you?” She nodded and walked into the residents lounge to grab them. She put them on his desk and he looked through them, “this is a tough one,” he flicked through the pages before shutting the files, “I don’t know how to help your patient but I do have an idea as to how we can get Morgan off our backs,” he went through the plan of their argument before they both went back to work.

Claire walked into the bowling alley and saw Neil standing at one of the lanes.

“Morgan buy the fight?” He asked as he handed her a pair of shoes.

“Is it weird how hard we have to work to hide a platonic friendship?” She asked back.

“Very,” he answered, “but it’s worth it,” Claire smiled as she laced up her shoes.

“So I hear you had some trouble with Shaun today,” she said and Neil rolled his eyes.

“Carly broke up with him so yeah he has been difficult,” he sighed, “did you hear he got arrested?”

“No way!” Claire exclaimed.

“Yeah he ended up harassing the family member of a deceased patient,” Neil drank some of his beer before continuing, “the worst part is that he was right, the patient had a hereditary disease and he may have saved her son’s life by figuring that out.”

“He is annoyingly persistent sometimes,” she acknowledged.

“Tell me about it,” he agreed, “I hear you guys helped your patient today.”

“Yeah, his alter ego agreed to surgery so hopefully he can now live a normal life again,” Claire said.

“That’s good,” Neil said, “now are you ready to get your ass kicked?”

“Bring it on,” Claire laughed.

The next day Neil was working with Shaun and Claire, they were walking through the hospital when Claire’s friend Dash showed up. Neil and Shaun left them to chat, as they were walking away Neil turned around and watched as Claire threw her arms around Dash and he felt slightly jealous at this, he wasn’t sure why though, his and Claire’s relationship was completely platonic, but seeing the look on Claire’s face made him think that maybe it wasn’t.

He was lost in his thoughts as Shaun went through everything he had wrote on the whiteboard.

“How did you make Dr Lim fall in love with you after you had been friends for so long?” He suddenly asked, the question caught Neil by surprise. He looked over to Claire.

“I assume that’s directed at you,” she said, causing him to smile in the way that made her heart skip a beat, as she had found out during the time that they had become closer.

“I don’t think you make anyone fall in love with you Shaun, it unfolds naturally over time,” he answered. Shaun went on his little rant about how that’s not true and how you can’t hide the less attractive parts of yourself, “it can be an advantage,” Neil said he looked over at Claire quickly before looking back at Shaun, “you already know what pisses them off.”

“That’s very true,” Shaun said before sitting down and typing on his phone, they continued discussing the diagnosis for their patient before leaving the room to run the necessary tests.

“New kicks won’t help you outrun me,” Neil said to Claire that evening when he found her sitting alone in the locker room. Claire chuckled before looking down at the box in her lap.

“They’re recipes, from Dash, well from Kayla by way of Dash, it’s complicated,” she sighed heavily, “he asked me on a date,” Neil could feel a pain in his chest when he heard this but he didn’t let it show, he sat down next to her.

“What did you say?” He asked.

“Nothing,” she replied, “I stammered and then I fled,” Neil laughed at this.

“What did you wanna say?” He asked, seriously.

“Eugh, I don’t know,” she put her head in her hands and that pain in Neil’s chest got slightly more painful, “Shaun was right, coming home to an empty apartment really sucks,” Neil nodded in agreement, “I used men to make me feel better, most of them didn’t mind, but I don’t trust myself to not hurt someone I care about,” the pain Neil was feeling was becoming unbearable, luckily Claire didn’t notice it but he definitely could, he knew that he was falling for her, he’d been in denial of it for so long but today he could tell for sure. Judging by how Claire was talking about Dash he could tell that she didn’t feel the same way about him, so he decided that even if he can’t be happy with her, he’d make sure that she was happy.

“Claire, it’s not that complicated,” he said, “you lit up this morning when you saw him, he seems to make you happy,” Claire looked like she was about to say something but nothing came out, “you deserve to be happy,” he smiled at her and she looked into his eyes, he hoped that she couldn’t see the pain that was there when he thought about her being happy with Dash, she smiled back at him.

“Thank you,” she said.

“That’s what friends are for,” he put a hand over hers and gave them a light squeeze before standing up and leaving her alone. She sat there for a little while longer, unsure of what to do, Neil was right, Dash did make her happy, but she didn’t feel that way about him, the one man who actually made her truly happy was the one who had just walked out of the door after telling her to give Dash a chance. She was torn, she was attracted to her boss but she was unsure as to how he felt for her, whereas Dash was willing to go out with her if she said yes. She knew she had a lot of thinking to do.


	9. Chapter 9

Shaun, Claire and Neil were all standing in Neil’s office trying to come up with a solution to help their latest patient. Shaun was being grumpy all day because Lea had rejected him and it was starting to get on Claire and Neil’s nerves.

“Murphy,” Neil said, “I’m not being nice, I’m using my experience and judgement to make the call, it’s my job.”

“You are being nice,” Shaun objected.

“And you’re being a jerk,” Neil snapped back, he looked back at Claire and his voice softened, “you’ve got the night, of you two can’t come up with a solution by morning we’ll proceed with the original plan,” he then walked out of the room. He was furious with Shaun, not only was he talking to patients badly he was also talking to him and Claire with such disrespect. He was also surprised that he’d made a comment about him trying to be nice to Claire, it was true to an extent, he does want to be nice to Claire, but he would never put a patient at risk just because he wants her to like him.

Claire was sat in the residents lounge when Neil walked in a few hours later.

“Make any progress?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’ve figured out a lateral approach, but Shaun thinks it would leave his spine unstable and increase his risk of stroke,” Claire answered.

“I agree,” Neil said.

“Yeah, I do to,” Claire replied, “there has to be a way to-“

“Dr Browne,” a nurse cut her off, they both looked up to see the nurse holding a bunch of flowers, “these just got delivered,” Neil turned to face Claire as she smiled. She moved to pick up the flowers as Neil spoke. 

“Dash is a romantic, I thought you hated romantics.”

“Yeah, he’s teasing me, I told him I thought guys who sent flowers were lame,” she smiled as she smelt the bouquet, “I think he’s trying to impress me because I said maybe to a date with him.”

“Why’d you say maybe?” Neil asked.

“I don’t know,” she sighed, “I enjoy being with him, actually I forgot how funny he is, just doesn’t seem like the right time, I still see him as Kayla’s husband,” Neil nodded slightly before picking up the patients scans.

“I’m more worried about the stroke risk than the spinal instability so, focus on fixing that,” he said, changing the subject, he went to leave but turned around before he got to the door, “and Claire,” she looked up at him, “if he’s the right guy, stop holding out for the right time,” he left the room, he was heartbroken but he hoped his face didn’t show that to Claire, he didn’t want to keep pushing her to Dash but she did deserve to be happy and if that was with Dash then so be it.

The next day they operated on their patient after Neil had come up with a surgical plan using Claire’s ideas, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly proud of her and even more in love with her than he was before. At the end of the day she went in to his office to give him an update on their patient.

“We did a good thing today,” he told her, “mostly because of you.”

“That’s kind of you to say, but,” Her words drifted off.

“Your commitment to your patients, reminds me of why I got into medicine,” he said, “being around you makes me a better surgeon,” he paused, “a better, person.” 

“Well, goodnight,” Claire said awkwardly before heading out of his office, he watched as she left worried if he’d said too much, he couldn’t take it back now so he just had to wait to see how this plays out.

“I think I’m in love with my boss,” Claire said to her therapist. She sighed and looked down at her hands.

“And how do you feel about that?”

“I don’t know,” Claire replied, “it’s difficult because of our work, but I, I’d rather be with him and have to be mentored by somebody else than miss out on love.” 

“Do you know if these feelings are reciprocated?” Her therapist asked.

“I’m not sure, the way he spoke tonight makes me think so,” she answered, “I don’t know what to do.” 

“Well, I can’t tell you what to do, this will be a big decision for you, but I will say that I have seen a great improvement in you since you two became friends,” Claire nodded at this before looking at her hands in thought. 

Neil sat in his house alone, he was watching TV but he wasn’t really paying much attention to it, he was just staring out across the room as he thought about Claire. He picked up his phone, considering messaging her, when he remembered the pictures that Angie had taken of them during the ‘prom.’ He pulled them up on his screen and swiped through them, smiling at how happy they both looked. He stopped on the picture of the two of them mid laugh. It was a beautiful picture, one that he will treasure forever, and he’s not sure why but seeing that suddenly gave him the courage to tell her how he felt.

He walked out of his front door and came face to face with Claire who was just walking up to his door. 

“Hey,” she said awkwardly.

“Hi,” he replied nervously. They stood there in awkward silence for a minute.

“I need to tell you something,” they suddenly say at the same time. They laughed before Claire speaks.

“You go first,” she said, he breathed in a shaky breathe.

“Okay,” he said, “When Dr Lim and I broke up I was heartbroken, I came in to work everyday pretending things were fine even though they weren’t,” he swallowed before he spoke again, “when we went on a run one day, I playfully shoved you and you fell into a bush, I was so worried I’d hurt you but when I offered you a hand you pulled me in next to you and that was when I realised that everything was fine. They had been fine for a while, because it was fine as long as I was with you,” he grabbed her hand, “I don’t know what you’ve come here to say but I’m hoping it’s along the lines of ‘I love you’ because that’s what I want to say to you,” he looked up at her, staring into her beautiful eyes, when she leant forward and kissed him. The kiss was slow and full of passion, the sort of kiss that you know they’ve been wanting to do for months or years, they were gentle with each other but there was also something desperate to the kiss. 

  
Eventually they broke apart, realising that lungs need oxygen, they leant their foreheads together and smiled at each other.

“I love you,” she said quietly. 

  
“I love you too.”


End file.
